"We Didn't Start the Fire"

CWI/Comparative

The highlight for me this week was reading your thank you notes to our veterans. You wrote with great sincerity and I was most impressed. I gave Mr. Ruscito several letters to read as I wanted him to know how well you had listened and how much thought you had given to the words of our guests. Your letters are now on their way. Job well done!

This week we started our study of the Cold War. We read about the steps leading to this undeclared conflict and learned some of the new vocabulary that will dominate this time period: “Red Scare,” “domino theory,” “containment,” NATO, and “Iron Curtain.” Your announced “quiz” gave you the opportunity to check your learning. If you did not meet standard, make sure to review that section of the text.

In “We didn’t start the fire,” we heard Billy Joel’s rendition of how events of that dramatic period affected the lives of all who experienced it. We also watched “The Wall,” a video about how the Communist rulers of East Germany tried to contain their people. What must it have been like to know you lived behind a wall and to attempt escape meant risking death?

Next week we will talk about the Korean Conflict and the start of Viet Nam. I am sure many of you have relatives or friends who took part in these two major conflicts. Take the time to ask them about those experiences...you will find in many ways they are very different from the experiences of our World War II vets.

Many of you are juniors and by now you should have developed your own strategies for learning. When you go off to college, career training or the military the days of worksheets and quizzes are over. You will be expected to learn and master large chunks of information on your own. This is the time to practice what works best for you: outlining, 3-2-1 notes, rereading, or teaching someone else about the material. All of these methods for understanding can work if you use them. You have to decide what is best for you.

Your current event is due Monday, March 30. Some of you who have not handed in the events tell me that you don’t have a computer or a printer but keep in mind you don’t need technology to complete this assignment. You can cut out an article and write your summary and reflection. You have a week’s notice to do these assignments, so if you have limited access to technology you need to make time to visit our library or the public library.

AP European History

Your test for World War II will be a DBQ with 14 documents. You will only have the class time to write and you will be evaluated using the AP DBQ rubric. You have a copy of the rubric so you may want to review prior to Tuesday. Your bold to bold notes and study guide are due on Tuesday.

World History

This week we finished watching “All Quiet on the Western Front” and you wrote about the changes that Paul and his friends experienced as the war dragged on. You had a time limit of 30 minutes to think and compose. While it is nice to have lots of time to think, reflect, write and rewrite, working under a time limit gives you practice for taking standardized tests and helps you understand the requirements you will face in an AP course.

On Friday you handed in your current event. By now you should be earning perfect scores on this assignment. Not handing in the assignment lowers your grade and is usually an indication of poor planning. Did you write in your plan book? Did you hear and see the reminder on the board for the past week? Did you check the blog? Good planning skills are not only essential for this course, but for everything you will do in the future – now is the time to master them!